After one of the craziest endings to the regular season in NFL history, the business end of the campaign has finally arrived, as the NFL Playoffs begin Sunday January 16, live on ESPN, with six huge Super Wildcard weekend matchups.
ESPN will have live coverage of every NFL Playoff game on the road to Super Bowl LVI, beginning with the NFL Super Wildcard weekend.
NFL fans will see six live NFL Playoff games on ESPN this round, as the march to crown the NFL champions officially begins.
ESPN’s NFL Playoff coverage starts on Sunday at 8.30am AEDT when the Las Vegas Raiders take on the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Raiders looked at long odds to make the playoffs for much of the regular season, and are coming off a bizarre 35-32 win over the Los Angeles Chargers – their fourth straight victory heading into the post-season.
Joe Burrow will lead Cincinnati in their first playoff appearance since 2015, as optimism begins to grow behind the Bengals.
They found their groove towards the back end of the season and having claimed the AFC North over the resurgent Steelers, they will start favourite at home.
Following at 12.15pm AEDT Sunday is another chapter in the famous rivalry between the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills.
The two AFC East conference combatants will square off yet again, in their first playoff showdown in 58 years.
Both are familiar with each other, having played twice in December, the latest seeing the Bills take the conference lead from the Patriots in a 33-21 win.
New England did claim a 14-10 victory in Week 13 this season, so with honors even, it is fitting that respective Super Bowl dreams will be defined by the other.
The NFL Playoff action continues on Monday December 17, with three live Wildcard Weekend games back to back.
The action begins Monday at 5am AEDT when the Philadelphia Eagles meet the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, live on ESPN.
Tampa Bay are the defending Super Bowl champions and the quest to defend that title ramps up with the visit of Philadelphia.
The Buccs had no trouble taking their conference, and with three wins in a row, come into the playoffs firing on the back of the GOAT Tom Brady.
Brady is missing key weapons of Chris Godwin (injured) and Antonio Brown (waived), meaning he is without the attacking arsenal that spearheaded the Buccs to the Vince Lombardi Trophy last year.
Philadelphia will start big outsiders, but at 4-1 to complete the regular season, they have form behind them ahead of the trip to Tampa Bay.
Following on at 8.30am AEDT, the San Francisco 49ers travel to battle with the Dallas Cowboys.
The 49ers are the third team from the NFC West to see playoff action, with one of the most unexpected playoffs runs.
2021/22 looked to be another one of disappointment but a Week 18 win over conference rivals Los Angeles Rams secured a post-season berth.
Now their run sees them lock horns with another storied NFL franchise and genuine Super Bowl contender – the Dallas Cowboys.
Expectation is high in Dallas and star QB Dak Prescott holds the keys to a deep playoff run that fans are hoping for.
Monday’s action concludes at 12pm AEDT as the Pittsburgh Steelers meet the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Steelers playoff prayers were answered in the most bizarre way imaginable.
Not only did Pittsburgh beat the Ravens in overtime in Week 18, but lowly Jacksonville then stunned Indianapolis.
It then looked for all money that the Raiders-Chargers Week 18 clash would end in a tie – sending both to the playoffs and Pittsburgh home – but a late field goal from Las Vegas reignited Pittsburgh’s playoffs hopes.
It means that both the career and Super Bowl dream of star QB Ben Roethlisberger remains alive. Now, the Steelers will run into one of the Super Bowl LVI favourites in the Chiefs.
Kansas City caught fire at the back end of the season winning nine of the last 10 games to comfortably win the AFC West and narrowly miss taking the AFC division.
The battle between Roethlisberger and Mahomes will be fascinating to watch, and the Steelers will hope their ridiculous good fortune continues.
The final game from Wildcard Weekend comes on Tuesday January 18 at 12pm AEDT when the Arizona Cardinals meet the Los Angeles Rams.
Another clash between conference rivals in the NFC West, a conference Arizona looked like taking comfortably, along with the division.
However, a 1-4 finish to the regular season saw the Rams jump them to claim the conference by a single game.
It does setup a mouthwatering showdown at SoFi Stadium, the site of Super Bowl LVI, as the pair provide a third clash of the campaign.
The Rams last beat the Cardinals back on December 13, the 30-23 victory being the win that ultimately split the pair in the NFC West standings.
NFL Super Wildcard Weekend on ESPN
Sunday January 16
8.30am AEDT, Las Vegas Raiders vs Cincinnati Bengals, ESPN
12pm AEDT, New England Patriots vs Buffalo Bills, ESPN
Monday January 17
5am AEDT, Philadelphia Eagles vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers, ESPN
8.30am AEDT, San Francisco 49ers vs Dallas Cowboys, ESPN
12pm AEDT, Pittsburgh Steelers vs Kansas City Chiefs, ESPN
Tuesday January 18
12pm AEDT, Arizona Cardinals vs Los Angeles Rams, ESPN
ESPN and ESPN2 are available via Foxtel, Kayo Sports, Fetch TV and SKY NZ.
